Author Spotlight: Suzanne Jenkins and Eileen Cruz Coleman

We have so many amazing and talented authors here at Instafreebie, and we’re really excited to introduce them to you. Instafreebie’s Author Spotlight gives readers the chance to meet some new authors and see it first before anyone else!

Growing up in the fifties, memories of air raid drills and descending to the bomb shelters in the school basement haunted a lot of baby boomers, me included. Idyllic summers spent playing outdoors until sunset reminded me how fragile our security really is.

In the eighties with the awareness of AIDS offering yet another reason to sequester humans from one another, an entirely new fear was introduced. It wasn’t just countries in another hemisphere we had to fear. Individual human beings became the target for our terror.

In Memory of the Color Yellow, people are interred for an entirely different reason in a dystopian society. The bombs didn’t fall, but leaders rose up to care for the citizens, slowly replacing their freedoms with a substandard existence.

What inspired you create Steve from “Memory of the Color Yellow Volume One?”

Steve Manos is a preteen whose curiosity, then compassion sets him above the others in the story. Through a series of events he catches the attention of the leaders of the quadrant where he lives with his family. He’s a mélange of characters from my extended Greek family.

Where does “Memory of the Color Yellow Volume One” take place and what inspired you to choose that setting?

I chose Detroit and the southeastern part of Michigan as my location. I was raised there and so many of the places where the action takes place are right out of childhood nightmares. The internment camp, Tiresias, is the old Eloise Psychiatric Hospital near my hometown.

Why should I read “Memory of the Color Yellow Volume One?”

Sci-fi fans have told me that they get lost in the stories and look forward to the next one.

Why are you letting us read “Memory of the Color Yellow Volume One” for free?

The stories are written in installments that I give one at a time to my subscribers. When I have five, I publish them in an ebook with a cover and get them on Amazon and Instafreebie. So far there are four volumes of five installments and three additional individual stories, totaling 23 installments. As soon as I have two more, I’ll once again put it into an ebook. I attempt to get at least one out a month.

What inspired you to write “A Daughter’s Guide to Traveling with Your Mom?”

My mom loved to travel and wanted us to travel the world together. She dreamed of visiting Spain with me. She was an adventurous and funny woman and the inspiration for “A Daughter’s Guide to Traveling with Your Mom.” Sadly, we never made it to Spain together.

Are any of your characters based on real people?

Yes, Mami is based on my mom. She was so funny and always ready to try anything. I miss her dearly.

How many hours a day do you write?

I don’t write every day. I wish I did! I may go weeks without writing a single word and then suddenly, I will get inspired and write and write until I collapse.

Why should I read “A Daughter’s Guide to Traveling with Your Mom?”

“A Daughter’s Guide to Traveling with Your Mom” is meant to be a light and funny short story. You should read this little story if you are looking for a break from the burdens of life.

Why are you letting us read “A Daughter’s Guide to Traveling with Your Mom” for free?

My hope is that by offering one of my stories free, readers might then be interested in reading my other stories, novellas and novels.

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